Love and Photographs
by SamNny
Summary: Centered around episode 18, when Mio was spying on Daisuke and Riku during the meteor shower. She had no idea that Takeshi would be out that night, but she was glad he came. And with his camera, too.


Why was love so complicated? Why couldn't it be the like movies he saw on TV, where the boy and girl would live happily ever after? Heck, why couldn't it be like every other typical middle school romance? Extravagant or ordinary, it didn't matter anymore. The best way to put this was... why couldn't he have a love at all?

Takeshi Saehara fell backwards onto his bed, his camera still in hand. He held it up and started going through all the digital photographs from the day's adventure. Being a journalist was more than just getting a good story for him. He needed pictures - photographic evidence - to go along with them. Call it verification, if you must. He had already organized all his notes and was about to write up his action-packed story, when a certain blonde-haired girl invaded his thoughts. She'd been doing that a lot lately.

Mio Hio, beauty-extraordinaire, and current owner of his heart. She constantly overwhelmed his conscious with her beautiful blonde hair, stunning brown eyes, and perfect plump lips. Every time he looked at her, he swore he had died and gone to Heaven. She made him stop dead in his tracks, cut the chatter, captured his full attention, etc. This girl could make him do anything - the impossible, according to his other classmates. Everything he was notorious for ceased when she was around. Funny how one person could stop your whole world from spinning.

He tried time and time again to win her affection or at least get her to notice him. The entire time he'd known her, though, her attention was completely focused on his best friend. The one and only, clumsy and ___naïve_, Daisuke Niwa. Why she kept wasting her efforts on him, he'd never know. He was clearly infatuated with Risa, or so he thought. He seemed to be slowly gravitating towards the older Harada twin, Riku. Either way, he wasn't interested in her. Yet every time he tried to ask her about it, she ran away or changed the subject. It was very tiresome.

As he tried to figure her out, he came across her picture on his camera. He secretly took it today while they were relaxing on the beach. After retrieving her hat from the ocean and returning it to her, there was a moment where she wasn't looking at him. He snapped a quick photo while she was squeezing some of the water from her hat. It was a magnificent shot, too. Her eyes were soft and cast down to her hands, her hair framed her face perfectly, a small smile tugged at her lips, and the sun shone radiantly on her porcelain skin, giving her the appearance of an angel. It was a perfect picture of his love - his angel.

He knew for a fact that he was head-over-heels in love with her. There was no denying it. He knew what a crush felt like and this feeling was far more intense than anything he'd ever experienced before. He wasn't just crazy about the way she looked - even though he wasn't scared to admit that she was extremely gorgeous - but he had a strong to desire to get to know her. He wanted to know her hopes and dreams, find out about her past, learn what her goals were in life, and what she liked and disliked. He just wanted to know _everything_ possible about her.

That in itself was unusual, because unless there was an exciting story behind it, he usually had no interest in peoples' lives. But there was something about her that interested him in a way that he didn't want to write all the facts down and publish a kick-ass article. No, any information he obtained about her, he wanted to keep all to himself. A secret, one could call it. He wanted to know things that nobody else did and be that one person she trusted more than anyone. The one she could confide in and depend on for anything and everything.

And then there was that other part of him that longed to be the one to not just know her, but connect with her as well. Connect in a physical and personal manner. He wanted to be the one to hold her hand, embrace her, and kiss her. Of course there was more, but he didn't want to get too ahead of himself. That would more than do for now. He also wanted to be the one she could talk to about anything and he'd understand and be able to converse back. He wanted to relish in the things they had in common and be satisfied with the things they didn't.

It was all so bizarre and foreign to him, that he didn't know whether he should get a rush from this feeling or be scared out of his mind. She didn't appear to have any interest in him, so would letting his feelings grow just cause him pain? Or what if there was hope that one day she'd stop chasing Daisuke and realize that he was there all along? What if somewhere down the line, she'd love him, too?

What if, why, how come - everything posed a question and it made him irritable. He had never thought so hard about anything in his entire life. Sure, being a journalist meant that it was his _job_ to gather information and answer questions - expose the truth - but this was just ridiculous. No amount of time spent following her around would tell him how she felt about him. He felt utterly powerless to ease his throbbing brain and solve this mystery.

He decided that sitting in his hotel room wasn't going to help him, so he slipped on his sandals and went to take a walk.

So here he was, all alone, walking along a rugged path in the forest, at night. He had his hands in his pockets and sighed for what seemed to be the millionth time that night. His objective was to dispose of his thoughts of Mio, but it wasn't working so far. He'd still get flashes of her in his mind and it drove him crazy. He couldn't seem to catch a break. But just when he thought his walk was helping him, everything crumbled around him. For sitting crouched down by the bushes with her back pressed against a tree was none other than Mio.

"M-Miss Mio, what are you doing out here?"

His voice caught her off guard, for she quickly jerked her head up to look at him and ended up hitting it against the tree. She used her hand to rub the back of her head, not noticing that he was now crouched down and right in front of her. When she finally did see him there, he raised his arms in defense, while looking at her intently.

"I'm sorry for startling you. Are you alright?"

She nodded at him, still confused as to what he was doing out here and why he was talking to her. She knew he had a thing for her, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. She didn't want to admit it at first, but Takeshi was cute in his own way. His funny looking face and enormous smile always made her happy. Not to mention that his determination to find the truth and his naturally high spirits matched her own façade. She wanted so desperately to be as perky and cheerful as she acted.

Coming out of her thoughts and back to reality, Mio saw Takeshi waving his hand in front of her face. She blushed faintly, thankful that it was too dark for him to see, and blinked.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said: what are you doing out here?"

She was trying to think of the proper way to answer him. If she told him the truth, he'd get really suspicious. Being out here spying on Riku and Daisuke for Hiwatari's step-father wouldn't leave him with anything but more questions. Then she'd be tangled up in a mess that she'd never get out of. Although she didn't want to lie to him, the seeker of truth, she knew she had no choice.

"Well, I was taking a walk, but then my legs got tired, so I stopped to rest."

Usually, this sort of thing would never work, but he couldn't seem to question her. He wanted to believe in her goodness and honest nature, even though he had no proof that she was that kind of person. Besides, in his eyes, she could do no wrong - not even tell a lie.

A few awkward moments passed before she heard a soft thud. She looked next to her and saw that Takeshi had plopped down right beside her. He let out another sigh and fiddled with the camera that dangled around his neck. His actions puzzled her further, for she now wondered about the saddening look on his face. He had been so serious earlier, but now he just looked... defeated.

"I'll sit here with you, that way we can walk back to the hotel together. I wouldn't want to leave you out here all alone. There might be some weirdo's walking around."

Her eyes widened at his statement and then softened. How cute, he was worried about her safety. She couldn't help but smile at him, although he wasn't paying attention. She watched as he messed with his camera some more before she remembered that he had gone around all day taking pictures. She never really paid attention when he passed out his articles in class, nor did she look at any of his pictures, but now that she had this moment with him, she suddenly became curious.

"Hey, Takeshi... can I see your camera?"

Now it was his turn to stare at her confusedly. Why she would want his camera, he had no idea, but he took it off his neck and handed it over without any resistance.

"Uh, sure, Miss Mio."

She took it from him and started pressing buttons until she finally found the one that would allow her to sift through his pictures. She examined each one carefully, now starting to think that if he was this good at taking photographs, then he must be one Hell of a writer. She kept on going through them until one in particular caught her eye. It was a photo of her from the beach. She remembered "accidentally" throwing her hat into the ocean and him going to retrieve it. She remembered when he gave it back to her, how she was trying to get all the water out of it. She only took her eyes off him for a few seconds before she rushed off with Daisuke. He must have taken it then.

Takeshi noticed that one of his pictures caught her eye and he leaned over to take a peek at which one. He was embarrassed to find that it was the one he took of her. The one he had been musing over earlier. He let out a quick shriek and snatched the camera out of her hands. He quickly turned it off and set it by his side. His face was now completely red, but the darkness kept it out sight. He had his hands in his lap and he was trying to think of a good explanation to give her. Telling her that he couldn't help but capture her beauty on camera might creep her out.

Mio noticed his anxiety and giggled while placing a finger to his lips. He looked at her, beyond confused, and blinked. She just smiled at him and looked him in the eye.

"It's alright, Takeshi. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I know you like me."

She was whispering now, remembering that Daisuke and Riku were within earshot. She thanked God that they hadn't heard them speak earlier or when Takeshi shrieked. That was another sticky situation she knew she wouldn't get out of.

"Y-You do?"

She continued to stare at the reporter, still smiling, and nodded again at him. Of course she knew - he was painfully obvious about it. She wanted to have a body of her own so she could really be with Takeshi. Even though she could feel and experience life in this body, she knew she was just a doll - a puppet - for Mr. Hiwatari. She had no freedom and had to continue following orders, and that meant winning over Daisuke.

But for now - just for now - she decided to take advantage of this moment with him. The meteor shower was just beginning and as the meteors flew across the sky, lighting it up with all their brilliance and radiating light, she leaned forward and planted a kiss right on his lips. It took him a little while to register what was going on, but as he came back to his senses, Takeshi kissed her back. It was brief and chaste, but not without meaning and heart. When the lights died down, Mio pulled herself away and stared softly at him. He was still in shock - and bliss - at what just happened. He couldn't tell if this was real or if he was dreaming and going to wake up in his hotel room.

Something told him that this was real, though, and he smiled from ear to ear, thankful that it was. Mio giggled at the goofy grin on his face and stood up. She outstretched her arms and offered to help him up. He took her hands and allowed himself to be pulled up, still grinning wildly. She smiled warmly, not allowing her sadness at the soon-to-be-over moment to show. She was determined to enjoy as much of this moment as she could with him.

"C'mon, Takeshi. Let's walk back to the hotel now."

Now they walked back along the path, heading for the hotel, hand-in-hand. This was not what he was expecting at all when he went out for his walk, but he sure wasn't going to complain. Little did he know that during their kiss, Mio had managed to grab his camera and took a picture of their one and only blissful time together. Never again would they have another encounter like that. But after taking the picture, the camera was discarded back to the ground and forgotten. Surely he would notice before too long and go back for it. And when he did, he could look at it and see their moment, forever captured in a photograph, and smile.

* * *

"A/N: So, I noticed there were no stories for this pairing and I was immediately disappointed. Despite being minor characters, they deserve some stories, too! Anyway, I had the urge to write and decided to make history with the first MioXTakeshi fic ever. So I hoped you enjoyed it, reviews would be much appreciated."


End file.
